• The big question: Should homework be banned?
    60 replies, posted
Well here it is, the debate that has been going on for years. My views: Homework should be banned. Why? Well, it's proven to give NO academic improvement, and not to mention the mental disorders that come with it. When a teacher says "I'm setting you homework" they're saying "Have pointless work and some mental disorders." You're probably thinking, what kind of mental disorders? Anxiety, depression and stress are the big ones. Homework also can cause physical disorders such as sickness. Sources: [QUOTE]A study conducted by Stanford Graduate School of Education surveyed more than 4,300 students from ten high-performing public and private high schools in affluent California communities, and found that excessive homework causes high stress levels and physical health problems. 'We found a clear connection between the students' stress and physical impacts -- migraines, ulcers and other stomach problems, sleep deprivation and exhaustion, and weight loss,' co-author of the study, Denise Pope, told CNN. [/QUOTE] [url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2586199/Can-homework-make-child-sick-Study-finds-clear-connection-students-stress-physical-illness.html#ixzz32HzDHQnL[/url] [QUOTE]A study by a group of Australian researchers found the average scores of relating to students’ academic performances against the amount of homework dished out at the end of the school day, showed clearly that when more time was spent on homework students were getting lower scores. The research clearly suggested that placing too much homework can cause lower grades and even lead pupils to begin suffering from depression.[/QUOTE] [url]http://factualfacts.com/science-facts/too-much-homework-can-cause-stress-depression-and-lower-grades-studies-suggest/[/url] I honestly can't see why homework hasn't been banned or at least restricted like this: [QUOTE]Good quality homework practices have been adopted in Finland where schoolchildren were given just 30 minutes per night to spend on homework and none at weekends. The kids were stress free and scored highly in their grades.[/QUOTE] Well, that's my views, what're your opinions?
Huge amounts of homework are massively counter-productive, especially during exam period when students should be revising already learned subject material. I think that as opposed to homework, students receive optional past papers and practice exam questions to do near exam period (after all, exams are what it comes down to). The subject knowledge itself can undoubtedly be covered in the time before the exam, I don't see why there should be a requirement for extracurricular work unless the teacher (or the students) were shit. However, in the case that this is not tangible, small amounts of homework can be beneficial, particularly those falling behind. Those who are already good at the subjects can find homework to be nothing more than a nuisance. It's also massively important that stress levels for students are low approaching exams, because it can lead to them giving up and not revising, or worse. Schools should NOT get in the way of individual revision. My school has banned study leave, and students are forced to stay in school during examination period, even after exams. This, to me, is bafflingly stupid. It's providing us with a distraction and essentially wasting our time. We all revise differently. I know this isn't about study leave, but it's a similar issue. Homework might be necessary for younger students, but schools should take a hands-off approach before exams.
I don't see how one concludes homework should be banned outright when the studies say excessive homework can be counter-productive. Banning homework is a terrible idea and I don't see how one could become proficient in math and the sciences without it.
Homework is good, but there's often wayyyy too much. Good example is my math class, if you know what to do, it takes about 10-15 minutes to complete it all and check over. Bad would be history, where we often get essays to write overnight and huge amounts of flash cards to make. But I see no reason to ban it, an excess of just about anything is harmful. Also, could you explain how "Homework causes physical disorders such as sickness"? I'm assuming you mean as a byproduct of stress your physical health declines?
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;44863211]Homework is good, but there's often wayyyy too much. Good example is my math class, if you know what to do, it takes about 10-15 minutes to complete it all and check over. Bad would be history, where we often get essays to write overnight and huge amounts of flash cards to make. But I see no reason to ban it, an excess of just about anything is harmful. Also, could you explain how "Homework causes physical disorders such as sickness"? I'm assuming you mean as a byproduct of stress your physical health declines?[/QUOTE] I assumed 'sickness' would be a primarily mental issue rather than physical, although I've never seen homework cause enough stress to manifest itself into an actual mental illness.
Homework makes sure you go over and properly understand the knowledge you were given in class.
No. Homework prepares you for the massive amount of coursework + personal work a person needs todo in A-Level/Uni. If homework didn't exist, how many teenagers do you think would even make it past their GCSE? Its designed to keep kids in line, usually when you get into late A2 homework stops altogether + it's replaced with your own personal work.
Having some level of homework helps prepare one for life. Generally, homework won't cause excessive stress if one actually keeps on top of it. Likewise, the tasks of adulthood are stressful too. It's important to develop mechanisms for balancing play, work, and stress.
[QUOTE=Cabbage;44868473]I assumed 'sickness' would be a primarily mental issue rather than physical, although I've never seen homework cause enough stress to manifest itself into an actual mental illness.[/QUOTE] I was diagnosed with Stress related depression due to the amount of homework I was getting. I lost sleep trying to get it done, and many times did not finish it all so I freaked out over what the teacher was going to do which sent me into a depressive spiral where I contemplated suicide because I didn't get a paper done on time. [QUOTE=BlueChihuahua;44869131]Having some level of homework helps prepare one for life. Generally, homework won't cause excessive stress if one actually keeps on top of it. Likewise, the tasks of adulthood are stressful too. It's important to develop mechanisms for balancing play, work, and stress.[/QUOTE] In my AP Courses we get less work to do than in my 'regular' level courses. My AP courses involve more reading and writing and thought than the usual homework that's spewed out by many teachers. Giving kids 6-10 hours of homework and saying "This is preparing you for the real world" is ridiculous. Having all your free time sapped from you is not helping you balance your time, and in some cases does the opposite when some people react extremely negatively and just go "fuck that" and never do any of the work because they're 'sticking it to the man'.
I think that education needs to be overhauled, but I don't think banning homework is necessary. I think less flash cards remember these facts and more research and essay writing. I find it makes you actually learn the knowledge given and allows you to fully understand concepts. Of course math I'm fine with as that is formulas or methods you need to remember.
[QUOTE=bdd458;44869997]I was diagnosed with Stress related depression due to the amount of homework I was getting. I lost sleep trying to get it done, and many times did not finish it all so I freaked out over what the teacher was going to do which sent me into a depressive spiral where I contemplated suicide because I didn't get a paper done on time. In my AP Courses we get less work to do than in my 'regular' level courses. My AP courses involve more reading and writing and thought than the usual homework that's spewed out by many teachers. Giving kids 6-10 hours of homework and saying "This is preparing you for the real world" is ridiculous. Having all your free time sapped from you is not helping you balance your time, and in some cases does the opposite when some people react extremely negatively and just go "fuck that" and never do any of the work because they're 'sticking it to the man'.[/QUOTE] Again, this is not grounds to ban all homework, just grounds to say kids should only be given a reasonable amount of homework.
I think there needs to be more attention spent on how students handle homeworks individually. Some people don't have problem doing homework and learn pretty well from it, but some people can't get a lot of help with homework from their parents or friends, and some people have issues organizing and time managing to get homeworks done. I personally got A LOT of shit in school because of how often I wouldn't do homework. I have ADHD, I really can't focus well on things that bores the hell out of me when I'm tired, stress scrambles my brain and makes me a nervous wreck, and I have a tendency to put things on the backburner until the last minute. I often did well in classes where we had a good teacher that explained everything we needed to learn during class and that wouldn't give us a shit ton of homework, but in every class with a lot of homework I'd be on the constant verge of failing grades. I've seen an article posted in SH not too long ago about how girls often do better than boys in school because they're more organized and have an easier time handling homework, while most guys like to postpone homework until the last minute. I think this tells pretty well that homework is a system that works well for some, but not for everyone. (If needed I'll try and dig up this article, but right now I'm getting ready for work so I'd prefer not to)
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;44863211]Homework is good, but there's often wayyyy too much. Good example is my math class, if you know what to do, it takes about 10-15 minutes to complete it all and check over. Bad would be history, where we often get essays to write overnight and huge amounts of flash cards to make. But I see no reason to ban it, an excess of just about anything is harmful. Also, could you explain how "Homework causes physical disorders such as sickness"? I'm assuming you mean as a byproduct of stress your physical health declines?[/QUOTE] I think math is a bad example for the point you're trying to make. As a math major, I can say that the only way to learn math is to do it. Lots of it.
No, I think it is helpful. One option taht might work, is to have low amounts of mandatory homework (so even those who aren't good at the subject have to do something) and optional extra homework, and students would get better grades the more homework they choose to do.
[QUOTE=Bordellimies;44875503]No, I think it is helpful. One option taht might work, is to have low amounts of mandatory homework (so even those who aren't good at the subject have to do something) and optional extra homework, and students would get better grades the more homework they choose to do.[/QUOTE] Making the optional homework affect your grade pretty much makes it as essential as the mandatory homework. Sounds really counter-productive, if you ask me. I recently finished my second General Biology course in college, and to be honest, it was one of the easiest classes I've ever taken, and I'm pretty sure I finished with a B-. We didn't really have homework, per se, but instead five or six little warm-up exercises that needed to be finished before a certain class that gave us a slightly better understanding of the lesson for the day. They didn't help on a grand scale, but made things a tad bit easier in class. The part I found the most interesting, however, was that we didn't even have to answer the questions correctly to receive credit for doing the work (of course they still had to be relevant to the topic at hand and made to look like we actually tried to get the right answer). The professor's understanding was that as long as we at least attempted the work and showed that we tried our hardest to find the right answer, it was still acceptable work even if we got it wrong. Compared to the Precalculus and Chemistry courses I had to take in the previous semester, in which we had homework that was due at the end of every week (or in the case of Precalc, getting homework two or three times per week), it was a lot more stressful to handle everything being thrown at us on a near daily basis, and in the end, I really didn't do well in those classes. Based on my own personal experiences and observations, I think one of two things should be done with homework: 1. It does not affect your grade. Homework is entirely optional, but it is greatly encouraged by the teacher/professor so that you may better understand the coursework. 2. It does affect your grade and is mandatory, but as long as you display a proper, realistic understanding of the coursework in an attempt to solve the problems, you get partial/full credit for completion even if your answers were incorrect.
[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;44876338]Making the optional homework affect your grade pretty much makes it as essential as the mandatory homework. Sounds really counter-productive, if you ask me. I recently finished my second General Biology course in college, and to be honest, it was one of the easiest classes I've ever taken, and I'm pretty sure I finished with a B-. We didn't really have homework, per se, but instead five or six little warm-up exercises that needed to be finished before a certain class that gave us a slightly better understanding of the lesson for the day. They didn't help on a grand scale, but made things a tad bit easier in class. The part I found the most interesting, however, was that we didn't even have to answer the questions correctly to receive credit for doing the work (of course they still had to be relevant to the topic at hand and made to look like we actually tried to get the right answer). The professor's understanding was that as long as we at least attempted the work and showed that we tried our hardest to find the right answer, it was still acceptable work even if we got it wrong. Compared to the Precalculus and Chemistry courses I had to take in the previous semester, in which we had homework that was due at the end of every week (or in the case of Precalc, getting homework two or three times per week), it was a lot more stressful to handle everything being thrown at us on a near daily basis, and in the end, I really didn't do well in those classes. Based on my own personal experiences and observations, I think one of two things should be done with homework: 1. It does not affect your grade. Homework is entirely optional, but it is greatly encouraged by the teacher/professor so that you may better understand the coursework. 2. It does affect your grade and is mandatory, but as long as you display a proper, realistic understanding of the coursework in an attempt to solve the problems, you get partial/full credit for completion even if your answers were incorrect.[/QUOTE] I like option 1. Not only would it be able to help kids under psychological issues, it would actually give the teacher an understanding of how they work and their dedication. One of my teachers is always trying to find that so she can decide what class we get put into the next year.
It's probably not homework in itself that's bad. It's probably just in the context of modern systems of education which are simplistic, poorly thought out and lead to the majority of people not achieving what they're capable of. Most of education at a school level is focused on teaching people what to think rather than how to think. A lot of time is wasted teaching people what to think about subjects they'll never need to use in their lives. That's why homework is bad. You're spending hours of your free time doing something you know is pointless to your life. The way it SHOULD be is that schools teach people how to think reliably, to understand their own strengths. How to admit what their own weaknesses are and overcome them. Then they should just let people choose what subjects they're interested in and help them pursue them. The reason that doesn't happen is just because it'd be a lot more complicated to regulate.
make it voluntary, if a kid wants to prove himself by doing some study work on his own and writing a paper on it or a video presentation good on him. when something is imposed on you you reject it naturally; and in time you can associate that disgust of having to do something you don't want with the actual courses, even though you might have been fascinated by them if you were to stumble upon them by chance...
No. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("This is NOT how you debate" - Craptasket))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=MinecraftUser;44881059]No.[/QUOTE] that's not how you debate [highlight](User was banned for this post ("This is NOT how you debate" - Craptasket))[/highlight]
I've always thought a sort of reverse-homework would be nice, where the teacher could record a lesson/have something prerecorded by someone else, have a reading, or a section from a textbook to read (because lessons are usually VERY short and just take time because kids dick around), and then do what would be homework in the classroom, where they can get help.
[QUOTE=katbug;44882135]I've always thought a sort of reverse-homework would be nice, where the teacher could record a lesson/have something prerecorded by someone else, have a reading, or a section from a textbook to read (because lessons are usually VERY short and just take time because kids dick around), and then do what would be homework in the classroom, where they can get help.[/QUOTE] That might work for college students, but no way in hell would the average American elementary, middle, or high school student pay appropriate attention with such an approach.
I don't think homework is to be banned. In order to master something, one must practice. Saying homework is not necessary to success at school is like saying training is not necessary to success in sports. If you want to run a marathon, you'll have to run a lot on your own. The same goes with theoretical topics : if you want to master some maths or physics, you'll have to train. And the only way to do so is by doing your homework.
The studies themselves don't seem to actually state that homework in itself is bad, merely an excess of it. Now the question is what is an excess of homework and what isn't.
Depends on both the student's goal and abilities. For example, smarter people will need less work than other in order to achieve a given result. However, one could think it would be a waste for them just to graduate, and give them even more work so that they can fully develop their skill. I think it comes to an excess when the student can't actually meet the teacher's goal, for some reasons. People are sometimes not smart enough (not said to be offensive) to understand concepts, and thus will never master them. Trying to make them work in that direction will eventually break them. Again, same goes with sports : training in order to outrun Usain Bolt is not reasonable.
Homework is more useful than you think. When I was on high school I used to hate them because you know, it takes free time. No I'm at university I kinda miss them just because I don't get into stuff they teach because them not sending homework.
Banning all homework, a little or a lot, outright is a bad idea. Homework gives a chance to review what has been taught in class. However, excessive homework is stressful, even for honor students.
I do think there should be a limit to how much homework can be given per class, piling up homework is no way to teach a class in any way. My English honors class is all homework, I haven't learned anything in there but doing just busywork of what I've known for years before this class. The only thing we do in class it self is do essays, a project here and there, rare slideshow notes, and video notes that have nothing to do with English at all, the videos were only shown because they had something to do with the current book we were reading. The homework was just annotate the current book being read, because it apparently helps us read better (lol searching for something to make note of to get a grade on it, sure does help), grammar worksheets (we are in an honors class, what a waste of paper), SAT words (you have to write the pronunciation of the word, synonyms, the definition, a compound sentence using it, and two sentences about who would use it and what they would say with it). Meanwhile, in all my other classes (honors, AP, minus algebra), we are given what we actually need for homework. Notes, etc.
As a student who has been in classes where teachers have never checked homework (which means that no one will do the homework) I can testify to the fact that homework does have a positive impact on grades. Not only do the points assigned to the homework assignment assist in boosting grades, but I have noticed that in a class where only I and a few other friends do the homework, we consistently score higher on the tests than our classmates, simply due to the fact that we are practicing the material outside of the classroom. It really is helpful, and I do not believe that it should be banned. As for homework contributing to stress levels and even mental diseases as the OP suggested, I would reason that those individuals already had pre-existing conditions or other environmental factors that led to a mental disease, not that homework was a major, or even a minor, factor. I think the influence of homework on the mental health of students is negligible.
[QUOTE=PopLot;44874383]I think math is a bad example for the point you're trying to make. As a math major, I can say that the only way to learn math is to do it. Lots of it.[/QUOTE] I second this point (also a math major). The only way for me to properly learn math is to do lots of problems. At one point I probably would've sided with banning homework, but looking back I definitely wouldn't know as much without doing it. I hate it just as much as the next person but homework should definitely stick around because it does help people learn.
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